Theater News

L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award Nominees Announced

Danny Burstein and Beth Leavel in The Drowsy Chaperone(Photo © Craig Schwartz)
Danny Burstein and Beth Leavel in The Drowsy Chaperone
(Photo © Craig Schwartz)

Edward Albee, Michael Arden, David Hare, and Michael John LaChiusa are among the nominees for the 37th Annual Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards for excellence in Los Angeles and Orange County Theater. The awards ceremony will take place at 7:30pm on Monday, March 13 at the El Portal Theatre, co-hosted by Jason Graae and critic Wenzel Jones.

Awards will be presented in 15 competitive categories. The musical The Drowsy Chaperone, which will soon move to Broadway, received eight nominations including Best Production, while the Blank Theatre Company’s The Wild Party received five nominations. Other shows with multiple nominations include the Fountain Theatre production of Dael Orlandersmith’s Yellowman, the Theatre@Boston Court’s Pera Palas, and the Mark Taper Forum production of The Goat, or Who Is Syliva. In addition, six special awards will be presented to such honorees as the Musical Theatre Guild and playwright Jon Robin Baitz for The Paris Letter.

Tickets to the ceremony are priced at $35 and can be ordered by calling 818-754-4419. A complete list of nominees and special award winners follows.

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BEST PRODUCTION:

Pera Palas, The Theatre@Boston Court & Antaeus Company, The Theatre@Boston Court
Play Without Words, Center Theatre Group, Ahmanson Theatre
Stuff Happens, Center Theatre Group, Mark Taper Forum
The Drowsy Chaperone, Center Theatre Group, Ahmanson Theatre
The Goat or, Who is Sylvia?, Center Theatre Group, Mark Taper Forum
The Paris Letter, Center Theatre Group, Kirk Douglas Theatre
The Wild Party, Blank Theatre Company, Hudson Mainstage Theatre
Yellowman, Bennett Bradley and The Fountain Theatre, The Fountain Theatre


T.H. McCULLOH AWARD FOR REVIVAL:

Happy End, Pacific Resident Theatre, Pacific Resident Theatre
Mother Courage and Her Children, Antaeus Theatre Company, NewPlace Warehouse Theatre
On The Town, Reprise! Broadway’s Best, UCLA Freud Playhouse
Private Lives, Pasadena Playhouse, Pasadena Playhouse


BEST DIRECTION:

Michael Michetti, Pera Palas, The Theatre@Boston Court & Antaeus Company
Casey Nicholaw, The Drowsy Chaperone, Ahmanson Theatre
Stefan Novinski & Hassan Christopher, J.O.B. The Hip-Hopera, the Stella Adler Theatre
Warner Shook, The Goat or, Who is Sylvia?, Mark Taper Forum
Pat Towne, Gorey Stories, Sacred Fools Theater


BEST MUSICAL DIRECTION:

Graham Jackson, Gorey Stories, Sacred Fools Theater
David O, The Wild Party, Blank Theatre Company at Hudson Mainstage Theatre
Phil Reno, The Drowsy Chaperone, Ahmanson Theatre
Gerald Sternbach, On the Town, Reprise! Broadway’s Best at UCLA Freud Playhouse


BEST WRITING:

Edward Albee, The Goat or, Who is Sylvia?, Mark Taper Forum
David Hare, Stuff Happens, Mark Taper Forum
Bob Martin and Don McKellar, The Drowsy Chaperone, Ahmanson Theatre
Dael Orlandersmith, Yellowman, The Fountain Theatre


BEST ADAPTATION/TRANSLATION:

Joanne Gordon, Love, Bukowski, California Repertory Company at Edison Theatre
KOAN Ensemble, Kafka Thing, Odyssey Theatre
Simon Levy, What I Heard About Iraq, The Fountain Theatre


BEST MUSICAL SCORE:

David Aldrich, Gorey Stories, Sacred Fools Theater
Michael John LaChiusa, The Wild Party, Blank Theatre Company at Hudson Mainstage Theatre
Lisa Lambert & Greg Morrison, The Drowsy Chaperone, Ahmanson Theatre


BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE:

Michael Arden, Pippin, Reprise! Broadway’s Best at UCLA Freud Playhouse
Chris Butler, Yellowman, The Fountain Theatre
Deidrie N. Henry, Yellowman, The Fountain Theatre
Beth Hogan, Kafka Thing, Odyssey Theatre
Brian Kerwin, The Goat or, Who is Sylvia?, Mark Taper Forum
Bob Martin, The Drowsy Chaperone, Ahmanson Theatre
Lisa Tharps, Medea, The Theatre@Boston Court
Trieu D. Tran, Equus, East/West Players


BEST FEATURED PERFORMANCE:

Frank Ashmore, National Pastime, Fremont Centre Theatre
Nathan Lee Graham, The Wild Party, Blank Theatre Company at Hudson Mainstage Theatre
Daren A. Herbert, The Wild Party, Blank Theatre Company at Hudson Mainstage Theatre
Beth Leavel, The Drowsy Chaperone, Ahmanson Theatre
Bets Malone, On the Town, Reprise! Broadway’s Best at UCLA Freud Playhouse
Jeff Marlow, Medea, The Theatre@Boston Court
Kirsten Potter, Honour, Matrix Theatre Company


BEST ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE:

Gorey Stories, Sacred Fools Theater
Kafka Thing, Odyssey Theatre
Love, Bukowski, California Repertory Company at Edison Theatre
Pera Palas, The Theatre@Boston Court & Antaeus Company


BEST SCENIC DESIGN:

Evan A. Bartoletti, Floyd Collins, West Coast Ensemble
Tom Buderwitz, Pera Palas, The Theatre@Boston Court & Antaeus Company
David Gallo, The Drowsy Chaperone, Ahmanson Theatre


BEST LIGHTING DESIGN:


Mike Durst, Kafka Thing, Odyssey Theatre
Cricket Sloat, Gorey Stories, Sacred Fools Theatre
Steven Young, J.O.B. The Hip-Hopera, the Stella Adler Theatre


BEST COSTUME DESIGN, HAIR, WIGS & MAKEUP:

Ann Closs-Farley (costumes, hair, wigs & makeup), Gorey Stories, Sacred Fools Theatre
Mary Vogt (costumes), Private Lives, Pasadena Playhouse
Gerald Altenburg (hair, wigs & make-up), The School for Scandal, Mark Taper Forum


BEST SOUND DESIGN:

Cricket Meyers, Floyd Collins, West Coast Ensemble
Kurt Thum, Kafka Thing, Odyssey Theatre
John Zalewski, Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said, EvidEnce Room


BEST CHOREOGRAPHY:

Matthew Bourne and the company, Play Without Words, Ahmanson Theatre
Hassan Christopher, J.O.B. The Hip-Hopera, the Stella Adler Theatre
Lee Martino, On the Town, Reprise! at UCLA Freud Playhouse


SPECIAL AWARDS:

-The Margaret Harford Award for sustained excellence in theater will be awarded to Musical Theatre Guild.

– The Ted Schmitt Award for world premiere of an outstanding new play will be awarded to Jon Robin Baitz for The Paris Letter.

– The Bob Z Award for career achievement in set design will be awarded to Donna Marquet.

– The Angstrom Award for career achievement in lighting design will be awarded to Jeremy Pivnick.

– The Polly Warfield Award for an excellent season in a small to mid-size theater will be awarded to California Repertory Company.

– The Joel Hirschhorn Award for outstanding achievement in musical theatre will be awarded to Eric Anderson.